title: Association of folic acid receptor α in maternal serum with neural tube defects.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To evaluate whether serum folic receptor α levels are changed in women whose previous pregnancies were complicated with neural tube defects (NTDs).
  
  
  METHODS
  This was a case-control study that included 41 women as the control group who had previously had at least one healthy pregnancy and 37 women as the study group who had a previous pregnancy complicated with NTDs. Blood samples were obtained from all of the participants six weeks after the termination of pregnancy or delivery of a baby. Serum folate receptor α concentrations were analyzed using a commercially available enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) kit.
  
  
  RESULTS
  The mean concentrations of serum folate receptor α were significantly lower in the NTD cases compared to those in the control group (p = 0.02). There was no significant difference in mean serum folate titers between the NTD cases and the control group (p = 0.07).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Low serum folic acid receptor α levels in the current study did not appear to be a regulatory marker of maternal folate homeostasis per se but rather a factor that contributed to the development of NTDs.
authors.affiliation: Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Turgut Ozal Medical Center, Inonu University , Malatya , Turkey .
authors.forename: Ebru
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Celik
authors.forename: Abdullah
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Karaer
authors.forename: Ilgin
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Turkcuoglu
authors.forename: Ugur
authors.initials: U
authors.lastname: Turhan
authors.forename: Arif
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Gungoren
authors.forename: Cagatay
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Taskapan
authors.forename: Fatma
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Ozyalin
authors.forename: Bulent
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Berker
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D016022:Case-Control Studies; D005260:Female; D058975:Folate Receptor 1 / Q000097:blood*; D006801:Humans; D007231:Infant, Newborn; D009035:Mothers; D009436:Neural Tube Defects / Q000097:blood / Q000175:diagnosis*; D011247:Pregnancy / Q000097:blood*; D011296:Prenatal Diagnosis / Q000379:methods; D012680:Sensitivity and Specificity; D055815:Young Adult
chemical_list: C548696:FOLR1 protein, human; D058975:Folate Receptor 1
keywords: Folate; folic acid receptor α; maternal serum; neural tube defect